Efficiency of Various Reagents on Ammonia Reduction in Litter Removal From Belt Conveyors for Battery Cages.

Abstract

With the development of technogenic civilization, various anthropogenic factors (ionizing radiation, toxic substances, etc.) affect virtually all living organisms, and often this effect is negative. The current state of affairs on many poultry farms is that they have a negative impact on the surrounding biosphere due to harmful emissions. This is due to the accumulation of litter. The purpose of the study was to investigate the microclimate parameters in the poultry house with the addition of various reagents and zeolite in the belt conveyors of cage batteries. It was proposed to add adsorbents (zeolite) and chemical reagents (phosphogypsum, superphosphate, and aluminium chloride and iron sulphate) directly onto the litter removal belt conveyors of cage batteries. It was found that application of zeolite onto the conveyor belt in an amount of 600 g/m2 reduces the content of ammonia in the premises by 1.6 times on the first day of accumulation of litter, and by 1.25 times on the seventh day, not exceeding during all seven days of maximum allowable concentrations. However, within all seven days of litter accumulation, a difference in this indicator with control was statistically significant (P<0.001). The reduction of ammonia emissions was less significant when applying a dose of zeolite of 300 g/m2 conveyor belt: by 1.6 times on the first day of accumulation of litter, and from the fifth day the difference with control was statistically significant. The application of phosphogypsum onto the conveyor belt in the amount of 600 g/m2 provided a reduction of ammonia emission by 2.1-1.1 times, 300 g/m2 -by 1.8 times on the first day of accumulation of litter. Since the fifth the day, the difference in control was statistically significant. The application of superphosphate onto the litter removal conveyor belts reduced the ammonia content in the poultry house in almost the same extent as when applying phosphogypsum. The effective time of this reagent was also close in importance. Aluminium chloride and ferrous sulphate were used in smaller doses than other absorbents and reagents, but on the initial five days of litter accumulation, they provided a relatively significant reduction in the ammonia content of the air in the poultry house: ferrous sulphate at a dose of 200 g/m2 of the conveyor belt area - by 2.0-1.2 times, aluminium chloride - by 4.0-1.5 times. Anyway, the efficacy of these reagents in the last days of litter accumulation was considerably decreased. The use of aluminium chloride and ferrous sulphate in doze of 100 g/m2 for the conveyor belt provided a proper reduction of indoor ammonia content only for the initial tree-four days.